Television is often considered the greatest of the advertising mediums. It has a vast audience. It can be a shared experience for many (e.g., leading to water cooler talk the day after a big show). And it permits a full range of advertisements, with sound, color, and motion. Thus, despite inroads from other forms of advertising, televisions advertising continues to lead many other advertising forms by generated revenue. More recently, other forms of video distribution have been developed, including on-line video and internet protocol television (IPTV), that provide experiences that share many of the elements of traditional television.
Traditional television advertising has its problems, however. It is generally segmented only by channel and timing, so that advertisements are shown to a general audience that may include many disinterested viewers and fail to include many interested viewers watching other channels. Thus, for example, even people who have no interest in a particular prescription drug are shown an advertisement for the drug if they are on the right channel at the right time. This is bad for the viewer because they may have to watch a commercial in which they are disinterested, it is bad for the advertisers because they get little to no benefit from such viewers, and it is bad for the broadcasters because advertisers will not want to pay more money if they are getting little to no additional benefit.
Also, for the most part, television advertising occurs via 15-second, 30-second, or 1-minute standard commercials at relatively set points during a program. For example, many programs start with a teaser, have several commercials, run for about 10 minutes, have another commercial break, and run about another 10 minutes before taking another commercial break. While these set breaks are good for people who want to snack or use the restroom, and they may capture the attention of some people, they might not be the most conducive way to get the advertising attention of other viewers.